While top male actors in Bollywood don’t experiment much with roles, as they have to cater to that massy tag of being a superstar, the top female actors are experimenting a lot more. Talking specifically about Vidya Balan, she broke stereotype with ‘The Dirty Picture’, a pregnant lady in action mode – ‘Kahaani’. She has always shown versatility on screen.
But very few times she could actually taste success. Vidya has seen a long spell of duds in the recent years, despite playing hatke characters consistently on screen.
However, ‘Tumhari Sulu’, an aspirational drama about a housewife, has ended Vidya Balan’s dry run at the box office and the actor believes the film clicked with the audiences because its story is rooted in middle-class ethos.
Vidya says it is not that she was not taking risks as an actor but somehow her experiments did not work until now.
“Every time I tried something new, the films didn’t work. It is the unfortunate truth,” she says in an interview with PTI.
“When the films don’t do well, it means not many people have seen it. But at the same time, whenever I have attempted to do something different, I have given my best. Thankfully, my work was appreciated always.”
She did ‘Ghanchakkar’ with Emraan Hashmi. She played Neetu, who dresses like a backup dancer in an 80s music video and doesn’t have a knack for seasoning food. Her put on Punjabi accent was a major put off in the film, also her nagging wife character that got irritating after a while.
She tried her hands on playing a pimp in Begum Jaan, her raunchy dialogue-baazi got ceetis, however, the film failed at the Box Office.
‘Tumhari Sulu’, directed by Suresh Triveni, features Vidya as a housewife, who is full of business plans and one day lands herself the job of a Radio Jockey.
The movie is a celebration of everyday woman and her indomitable spirit.
“A woman is balancing everything in life. Most of the time, women are not appreciated, unless they are achievers. You do not have to be Indra Nooyi (to be appreciated). Women should be appreciated for everything they do as they do it with commitment and dedication. This script does that,” said Vidya.
The film has been appreciated for its witty one-liners and Vidya’s chemistry with Manav Kaul, who plays her husband.
Ultimately, content is the king and audience is the best judge!
